The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to cooling electronic devices and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for dissipating heat from an integrated circuit device.
In at least some known electronic systems, e.g., computers, radios, radar modules, etc., the electronic device is the warmest component in the system. As such, at least some known electronic devices are coupled to a heat removal system to dissipate heat generated by the electronic device. Many known heat removal systems for such electronic devices include a path for heat flow with a high thermal resistance resulting in a high operating junction temperature. Generally, waste heat is removed by conduction, spreading, and convection to an appropriate cooling fluid with gradual reductions in temperature as the heat moves from the heat source to the cooling fluid. For example, the heat generated by a high-density power integrated circuit (“IC”) device may travel from the front side of the IC device trough the IC substrate, a thermal interface material, a heat spreader, and a heat sink before being transferred to a cooling fluid, e.g., air.
While considerable efforts have been made to develop heat removal systems that are reliable and efficient, these systems often only address the backside cooling of the electrical devices. In at least some known high-density power IC devices, e.g., IC amplifiers, the thermal resistance associated with the junction region on the front side of the IC die can be as large as the thermal resistance for the remaining components of the heat removal system. In at least some known IC devices, this junction region may typically include the first 100 microns of the IC device, often including an epitaxial layer of several microns coupled to a ceramic substrate, e.g., silicon, silicon carbide, etc.